By FINTECH Books Contributor, Jannat Shah Follow: @jannatshah InsurTech is broader than meets the eye, or proper noun in this case. InsurTech is a subset of FinTech, but we should be clear on what InsurTech really means. It’s about solving the problems of the €4 trillion insurance industry. Banking underwent a digital revolution, but a deposit-taking institution has not nearly as many concerns as one who prices and takes on risk. The insurance industry is ripe for disruption for a variety of reasons: consumer expectations, legacy systems, demographic changes and at least on a non-life and health basis – changes in consumer behaviour with respect to underlying assets. There are numerous places in the value chain where technology can have an effect: distribution, pricing and underwriting, big data for better risk models, claims handling, reinsurance to name a few. For insurers to remain competitive, they must think of ways to compete beyond just price. Insurance purchases come with a range of reasons and timings, ultimately it is a grudge buy. InsurTech should seek to make it a better experience, and a convenient one at that. Incumbent insurers also tend to have back office challenges where pieces of the business do not communicate as well as they should, and could if the systems were built today. This becomes apparent when we get to consumer touch-points – policy purchase, potential claims and renewals. For many, InsurTech paints the picture of a full-stack insurer that solves and does all the above as a digitally native carrier that acquires customers through the promise of better pricing and experience, while simultaneously giving more than just risk coverage to extract a better customer lifetime value. For me, InsurTech is something broader and may in some cases make incumbents invisible and parametric. Going further, the best InsurTech might not be identified as InsurTech at all. If you would like to learn more about FinTech please look at our video courses at FINTECHCircleInstitute.com